UND project working to turn oil wastewater into power

NORTH DAKOTA — University of North Dakota researchers are working on a new project that would turn oil well fracking wastewater into geothermal power. With energy exploration companies Continental Resources and the MOL Group, the University is developing technology to convert the boiling water injected into horizontally-drilled fracking wells into heat that will turn turbines to generate electricity.

While still in its testing phase, the UND technology simply hooks geothermal generators to the pipes carrying the steaming wastewater to produce electricity on-site or sold back onto the local electricity grid. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that a 250 kilowatt geothermal generator could generate an annual return of $100,000 per well.